Three workers were killed after inhaling poisonous gases while trying to pull out a housekeeping staff, who was cleaning a hazardous waste tank inside Jay Auto Components Limited on Khandsa Road here on Saturday.
Some agitated workers later gathered at the police station seeking action against the management, alleging that the staff was not provided the mandatory safety equipment and that there was delay in pulling them out.
Written complaint
The kin of the deceased have also given a written complaint to the police in this regard seeking legal action against the company.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Ravinder Kumar said a case would be registered against the management under sections of the IPC.
The deceased have been identified as Nanhe (35), Rinku (32) and Raj Kumar (24). All three belonged to Uttar Pradesh.
“Vineet, a housekeeping staff, was the first to go into the tank to clean it around noon. When the supervisory staff suspected that he had inhaled poisonous gas, they forced Nanhe, Rinku and Raj Kumar to go inside the tank and pull him out. The trio managed to pull out Vineet, but they themselves got trapped. And no one came forward to help them. The three were later pulled out by the fire brigade personnel, but it was too late by then,” said Nanhe's nephew Rakesh, who also works at a company in the area.
Gases didn’t filter out
Nanhe, a native of Lakhim Kheri, is survived by his wife and four children. Rinku, a native of Hardoi, is survived by his wife and two sons. Raj Kumar belonged to Gautam Budh Nagar.
Another worker, who did not wish to be named, said that the tank — containing a waste mixture of paint and thinner — is usually kept open for two-three days before cleaning for the poisonous gases to filter out, but it was not done this time around.
“The company did not wait for the gases to release. The tank was opened today [Saturday] after a year and the staff was asked to clean it immediately. The staff did not have mandatory safety equipment like gas masks. Besides, three of them were housekeeping staff and it was not their job to clean the tank,” said the worker.
The management could not be reached for comment despite several efforts.
